I recently wrote an article about the Yachiho plateau, home to the largest birch forest in Japan. There are many other tourist destinations in Nagano Pr...

Have you ever seen an obsidian gemstone? Obsidian ("黒曜石" in Japanese) is, as the name suggests, a "black, shiny stone". Obsidian was used as a stone too...

In the town of Nagawa in Nagano Prefecture, there is an obsidian mining site called Hoshikuso Toge. Here you can learn about obsidian and its history at...